Changes
by Son Goshen
Summary: Drabble, hinted ArtemisxHolly. After Artemis was revived, Holly thinks back to how much he has changed over the years. If Artemis wasn't such an annoying Mud Boy, perhaps she would consider dating him. Just maybe.


**Disclaimer: Don't own Artemis Fowl, never will.**

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Often times during night, Holly would stare emptily up at her drab ceiling and search for a lost solution that would've prevented Artemis's untimely death. And more often than not, the only measly theories she was able to scavenge from her intellect were simple ones that were ridiculous and would fall apart before they were even put into action. She was still haunted by the way his body had become so deathly still, how despite all the odds, he would always flutter awake and smile sardonically at her, mocking her empathetic nature. But not this time.

In some ways, Artemis was back, with his soul transplanted into a clone body which in essence brought him back to life again.

It just wasn't the same.

Even though this Artemis maintained all the memories and personality of his previous self being the same soul, he had changed, and it wasn't due to the traumatizing event of dying and being trapped in perpetual limbo, hanging desperately on for the mere hope that his friends would save him in time before his willpower was drained. Perhaps it was because this was a clone's body, and it certainly wasn't the extra finger that bothered her.

This Artemis just wasn't the same Artemis who had gone on all the worldly adventures together, the same Artemis that saved her trigger finger, the same Artemis that kissed her so passionately under the influence of hormones when they were catapulted unwillingly into the past. Though he had the same mind, the body was no longer the one she was familiar with. This body had not faced all the pressure, pain, and trauma the real, buried body had experienced. This body was simply not the real Artemis who had grown up like an ordinary human should, but a shoddy replacement of the original. No matter how many clones Foaly could fabricate, no matter how quickly cloning technology could be perfected, there would _never_ be a way to restore the real Artemis.

And this thought was what haunted her before she slept; it the source of her nightly terrors though she should've been long past the stage of such.

When she asked clone Artemis if he had minded his death, he only chuckled and said in his special, smug manner, "I knew it wasn't going to be the end."

That, of course, would lead to her punching him in the shoulder and scoff about how irritating he was. But underneath the light, joking atmosphere she knew that he must've being afraid before setting his plan in motion. The solution of bring him back was not completely guaranteed, and she had been around long enough to know that Artemis Fowl did not simply jump into things without all the steps completely verified and secured. It bothered her to realize that he must've been ready to come face to face with the fact that it might be his true end, and he might never come back. Everyone feared death to a certain degree, and those who didn't were fools.

In retrospect, she couldn't help but marvel over how much he had drastically changed. She knew him originally as an irritating criminal mastermind who was barely a teen and oozed self-confidence, but now he had miraculously transformed into a polite man who was so selfless he'd give up his life for the sake of the world. Not many would be ready for such a big commitment, yet within a span of a few years this was the extraordinary change that took place in Artemis's boggling mind. He had literally given up his life.

Following the devastating event and ultimate demise of Opal Koboi, their lives had finally settled down. No more life threatening situations to face; it was all finished and over. During these times, it led her to think some irrelevant and shallow thoughts.

If Artemis wasn't such an annoying Mud Boy, perhaps she would consider dating him. Just maybe.

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**This is the first time I have ever written an Artemis Fowl fanfic, and I've never read anything so I hope it's up to standards. And I cross my fingers that my teacher will give me a good grade on this because I'm turning it in for homework, and that she won't think I plagiarized myself (now wouldn't that be funny). **

**Hope you enjoyed this drabble! And please do leave a review, it will be very much appreciated.**

**~Shen **


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